Russia destroys drones in Kaluga, Moscow regions: defense ministry

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian air defense forces have destroyed Ukrainian drones in the Kaluga and Moscow regions, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Today at night, air defense forces destroyed drones in the Kaluga Region and in the Istra district that were trying to commit an attack on Moscow," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel.

Sobyanin added that according to preliminary data, there was no damage or casualties on the crash site and emergency services are working on the site.

Russia has reported a series of drone attacks across the country recently and has repeatedly accused Ukraine of being behind the drone strikes.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defenses have destroyed two Ukrainian drones overnight, one shot down over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula and the other intercepted over the Kursk region.

In addition, the ministry said Sunday that its air defense had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region, preventing it from carrying out a terrorist attack on Russian facilities.

On Aug. 30, four Il-76 transport aircraft were destroyed during an overnight drone attack at Pskov airport in western Russia, according to Ukrainian authorities.

According to the airport's website, Russia's 334th Military Transport Aviation Regiment, armed with II-76 aircraft, was stationed at the airport at the time of the drone attack.

A Ukrainian government official confirmed local reports that Ukrainian military intelligence was behind the attack, said the BBC report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 31 that a new Ukrainian-made long-range weapon had successfully reached a target 700 km away, Kyiv Independent reported.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing last Wednesday that Ukraine would not have been able to hit targets deep inside Russian territory without satellite data obtained from the West.

Zakharova warned that Ukraine's actions will not be left unpunished.

Actually, drones have been deployed by both sides in the conflict.

Russia hit Ukraine's port infrastructure in an overnight drone attack on the southern Black Sea port city of Odesa, regional authorities said Sunday.

Two civilian port workers were injured in the attack, said the Odesa regional military administration.

Serhii Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian volunteer army "South," wrote in a Telegram post that a fire broke out in a port infrastructure facility following the attack.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, the country's air defense has intercepted 22 out of 25 Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 kamikaze drones launched against the region.